Bumper



Nov. 2U l923 31,474,974

c. G.` LONGNECKER BUMPER Filed Nov. 20, 1922. 2 sheets-Sheet 1 Nov. 2o, 1923. www@ C. G. LONGNECKER BUMPER Filed Nov. 20, 1922 2 Sheecs-Sheel 2 Patented Novo 2F, N230 lglltttllll CLYDE (Gl. LONGNECKER, CHEAGO, IILLIINOS.

BUMPER.

Application filed November 20, 19%. s@aerial No. 602,171.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that l, Cerca Gr. Lonc- Naonnn, a citizen or the United States, residing at Chicago, in the county of Cook and State of illinois, h-ave invented certain new and usetul improvements in Bumpers, of which the following is a description.

My invention relates to improvements in bumpers and more particularly to bumpers il@ adapted to be positioned at the front or rear end, or both ends, order to prevent injury to the same.

The invention has among its objects the production ot a device described, which is l@ simple, convenient, durable, reliable, neat and attractive in appearance, eiiicient and satisfactory 'for use wherever found applicable.

lnother'object ol my invention-is to provide a bumper of the hind described in which any thrust or blow given to any portion of the bumper will be absorbed or taken up throughout the entire bumper, thus reinforcing the bumper to a considerable extent t5 and greatly improving its efficiency.

ilurther object is the production ci a device of the kind described which is adapted for all makes ot automobiles, the brackets or supports being substantially universally 3@ adapted for the same, thereby reducing the expense of manufacturing and carrying in stock of many sizes and styles of brackets.

Many other objects and advantages of the construction herein shown and described 35 will be obvious`to those skilled in the art from the disclosures hereingiven.

To this end my invention consists in the novel construction, arrangement and combination of parts herein shown and de- 4@ scribedVand more particularly pointed out in the claims.

Fig. 1 is a front elevation of the bumper;

Fig. 2 is a top plan view thereof with a portion oit the supporting brackets broken ce away;

Fig. 3 isa side elevation of the same as attached to a vehicle;

Fig. t is a section taken substantially on line l--i ot Fig. 1, showing the vehicle in t@ tra l entary elevation;

ig. 5 is a section taken substantially on line 5-5 ot Fig. 1;

Fig. 6 is a section taken substantially on line 6 6 of Fig. 2;

ot a motor vehicle in*` Fig. 7 is a section taken substantially on line 7 7 of Fig. 2; and

Fig. 8 shows a modified form of tie-bar.

ln the drawings, wherein ll have illustrated the preferred embodiments of my invention, there is shown a bumper adapted to be mounted upon either the front or rear ends of a motor vehicle, or both ends, if so desired, the vehicle being indicated at 1 and illustrated as having a frame 2 and wheels 3.

'lhe bumper itself comprises an impactreceiving bar i of any desired size and material, preierablyof a flexible resilient material such as steel, the ends of said bar provided with loops 5 formed in any desired'or suitable manner. lt will be noted that the loops are in the present instance formed integral'with the remainder of the bar and the bar and its loops lie in a single plane.

Ac pair of flexed or bowed resilient bars or rods 6 and 7, respectively, are positioned across each of the loops 5, said bars (i and 7 being arranged mutually transversely oi2 each other and in the present instance the bars 6 are arranged transversely of the longitudinal direction of the bar il, while the barsJ 7 are arranged in alignment therewith.

The bars 6 and 7 are arranged at the rear oi the impact-receiving bar 4; and are preierably held in frictional contact therewith so that when the bar 4 receives an impact and is pressed inwardly the bars 6 and 7 may momentarily straighten out and slide along the bar 4. ln order to provide for the securing of the flexed bars to the impactreceiving bar, the members 6 are provided with elongated slots 8 at their ends and through which are positioned screws or bolts 9, as shown more clearly in Fig. 5, said bolts being tightened up to such a degree that they will not prevent the relative sliding movement of the members 5 and ti when said impact-receiving bar is pressed inwardly. rl.`he bars 7 are preferably iaedly secured to the bar l at one end as at 10, the other end 11 oi the bar 7 being held in contact with the bar 4 by means oi a clip 12, or the like. lt will be particularly noted, especiaily in Figs. et and 5, that the flexed bars and 7 are slidably engageable with one another, said bars being preferably made oi" a material having a rather high degree oit flexibility and resiliency as -tor instance spring steel or the like, 4

titi

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'ltlll prising a vIn order to mount the bumper upon the vehicle, I have provided brackets, said brackets in the resent instance each com air o bars, one of. whichis se-A cured to t e frame of the vehicle, as at 18,

Aand is'slightly offset at its other end so as ,to engage with said frame, as at 14. The

other of the pair of the bracket bars is bent to provide a pair of legs and 16, the le 15 having an elongated slot therethrou adapted to receive fastening bolts 16 or l securing to the art 14 of the bar 13, whereclip 17 lixed to the bar 16 and on y fricv tionally engageable with the bar 7, so that relative movement between the bar 7 and the bracket will be permitted when required. Extending substantially parallel to the impact-receiving member 4 and preferably to the rear thereof is a tie-bar or connecting rod having its ends secured to the rojeting ends 16 of the bracket bars. is tiebar-18 is preferably .made llongitudinally adjustable by means of a turn-buckle 19 or anyvsuitable or equivalent device, whereb the length of said tie-rod may be adjuste Any blow or im act given to the bumper, irrespective of w ether said impact is perpendicular thereto, or at any other angle will always be transmitted and distributed to Aboth ends of the bumper and to the supporting brackets through said tie-rod so that said tie-rod serves as a very efficient form of re-inforcement for the bumper. I prefer to employ lock nuts on the rods at the turn buckle so as to maintain the parts in the desired adjustment. The same may also be employed at the ends adjacent the bar 16. if so desired.

-Another essential function of the tie-rod is that it permits the-bumper being applied to various makes of cars, having varying widths of frames, for it is apparent that the tie-rod may be lengthened or shortened so that the brackets may be roperly fastened .to the frame of the vehic e.

In Fig. l8 I have shown a dierent form of connecting rod, whereinthe sockets 20 are adapted to be secured to the brackets 16 and a single rod 21 is reversely threaded at its Iends and is engageabl in said sockets. In

. order to more easily manipulate the bar 21 a portion thereof is made of a suitable nonwrench or other tool may be engaged thereat to rotate the bar 21. Lock nuts 20 are -shown for maintaining the parts in the desired adjustment.

I have shown a slightly modified construction but embodying the essential features of the other types of bracket shown. Referring to this figure, 25--25 represent bracket parts similar to the arts 13, while 26 represents the bar, takin t e place of the tie rod, and which is. provi ed with the ends 27-27. taking the place of the bracket parts 15while 28 corres oiids with the cli s 17 previously describe There is also s own an additional .part 29, which -may be secured to the art 26 to form an additional attachment of) of the lvehicle when the vehicle is so provided with one.

It'will be particularly noted with the style of bracket shown that instead of havling independentv brackets arranged one at each sidel of the vehicle, there is .rovided substantially a single bracket, whic is conthe same to a frame cross bar nected to each side of the vehicle frame.r

With the type illustrated in Fig. 2 the bracket is adjustable so that it may be placed on any car and adjusted as required, and reinforcing the front end of the automobile, thereby tending to stiffen the same and prevent bent frames. The same is also true when the device is applied at the rear.

' The advantages of making what is substantially a single bracket attached to both sides of the car as well as one which is universal will be obvious to those skilled in the art. It should also be noted that with the bracket construction similar to that shown and described, practically any of the ty j es of impact bars now in' the market may e secured to my improved bracket in lieu of the impact bars that I'have shown. The factory may therefore provide the brackets as standard efuilpment desired and let the pur chaser app v is own type of impact bar.

Having thus described my invention, it is obvious that various immaterial modifications may be made in the same without departing from. the spirit of my invention; hence I d o not wish to be understood as limiting myself to the exact form, construction, arrangement and combina-tion of parts herein shown and described or uses mentioned.

What I claim as new and desire to secure by Letters Patent is:

1. In combination, a bumper, brackets at the ends thereof for mounting said bumper on a vehicle, said brackets comprising members each connected at one end to said vehicle and thence bent laterally between its ends toward the other, meansfor connecting said bent portions of, said members to said bumper intermediate their ends so that said with oeps iis messie one of seid oss comece et one end to seid across each of seid loops @n sisby engegeable with each otheren brackets fox' connecting seid flexed members o e vebice.

8. A bumper comprising s. be? provef Wlh loops at its enos end lying in ehe same piene, e exed ber rcsonelly oonneeed si; its ends transversely across each of seid loops. s exed member colmeee across esl-ch or' ssi oops in e deeesion esensverse of said rst-menionef Hexel 'Der en sieby engegeeole herewih, mesme fo? fesonsg secumg one en of semi it-mentioned Hemd members be seid 'my so as o pemio sliding movemen*J wzheebetfvfeen` *ossei-'11 ets adapted to be seeu'e one en exed members amd et bei? ohe eno, o vehoe.

9. A bumper comprising s of as piece o mee-s pfoved with oeps et ends ami lying is the seme piene, pei? o' muauey trensve'fse {ie-red members eeroes each of seid "keeps mi in sdfioe engegement with ese-h @be-s? sei@ @esei rconsy cenneeef o ses, permit miei-,ive sng mov 1 vlween and, oeokecs conmee'e set-Ween exe membes fol seoufsg es vehiee Ems. M". Remmen; 

